Women in antebellum American slavery endured horrific suffering as females, field hands, house slaves, wives and mothers. They suffered in a system of forced labor that denied their humanity and morality. They were no strangers to the lash, rape, concubinage and breeding or to losing their children through sale. Yet they also found meaning and strength in the slave quarters, within their own religion and culture, in their own families and communities. Enslaved women developed an alternate consciousness informed by West African traditional religions and evangelical Christianity. ...